This year, more than 1,600 students nationwide entered the Siemens competition. After several rounds of judging, 20 finalists were chosen to present their projects at N.Y.U. and to vie for scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. Eleven of the finalists were girls. It was the first year that girls outnumbered boys in the final round. Most of the finalists attend public school.

The top prizes:

Janelle Schlossberger and Amanda Marinoff, both 17 and seniors at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School on Long Island, split the first prize — a $100,000 scholarship — in the team category for creating a molecule that helps block the reproduction of drug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria.

Isha Himani Jain, 16, a senior at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pa., placed first in the individual category for her studies of bone growth in zebra fish, whose tail fins grow in spurts, similar to the way children’s bones do. She will get a $100,000 scholarship.

The one disturbing thing in the entire story:

Three-quarters of the finalists have a parent who is a scientist.

That's no good at all. That implies that these students' brilliance isn't coming from a school system available to all, but from parents with the benefits of university educations. Which is of course wonderful for them, and it's wonderful that scientists bestow the same education on their daughters as their sons, but it is not wonderful for everyone whose parents are non-scientists who would hope to walk in these girls' steps.

EDIT: Oh, and if you're interested in the lives of women, you'll just looove "Venus Envy," which is available right now for not 19.95, not 9.95, but absolutely free, that's right you heard me, absolutely free, on Fringe.